John Gannam’s Amazing Watercolors

John Gannam was an extremely successful commercial illustrator whose life was something of a Cinderella story.

Born in Lebanon in 1905 as Fouzi Hanna Boughanam he came to America with his family in 1909. They settled in Chicago. Sadly, his father died when John was 14 and out of necessity he dropped out of school to support his mother and three younger brothers. After a series of menial jobs, he found employmentas a messenger for one of Chicago’s largest engraving houses. And here is where he found his calling to become an artist. He studied the work of the artists at the engraving house while following a strict self-teaching regime. It took a few years but he finally found work as an artist first in Chicago and then Detroit where he did a series of ads for Dodge Brothers in the late 20s.

In 1930 Gannam went to New York. Shortly after arriving he received his first assignment for Woman’s Home Companion. Soon his work was always in demand. And he enjoyed a long, successful career far away from the expectations for a 14 year old school dropout.

American Magazine, 1944

American Magazine, 1953

American Magazine, 1934

American Magazine, 1945

Good Housekeeping, 1944

Good Housekeeping, 1944

American Magazine, 1941

Good Housekeeping, 1959

Gannam’s forte was watercolor, a medium difficult to control. And then there were clients, especially advertising clients, who would want changes. This would sometimes mean Gannam would start again from scratch, watercolor being difficult to change. But he was a master of the medium. Here are some examples of Gannam’s fluid watercolor technique.

1947

1949

1946

1945

John Gannam died in 1965 and was inducted into the Illustrator’s Hall of Fame in 1981.